I bite the bullet and bought a real microscope and it was...

...one of the best things I did.

Bought an entry level student AmScope, 20x-40x. Amazing, it takes all the guesswork out of trichomes.
On 20x the trichomes on your piece of bud fill up your view. Clear, white and amber are easily read. On 40x you can actually look inside the individual trichomes and see the degree of maturity and the amber process beginning. Very important when trying to determine when to harvest. $$$ well spent.

You can buy a 60x from aliexpress for 3$ clip it on your phone and then zoom some more.start a video and you see huge heads

Here

Beard-o said:

Here
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I have a digital one uses a bullet camera. The issue I have is at high magnification the wind and arm motion screw up the image. Your old school type solves that problem but you have trimmed the bud. I have a stand I can use outside but couldn't get a good setup for tent

formularacer said:

I have a digital one uses a bullet camera. The issue I have is at high magnification the wind and arm motion screw up the image. Your old school type solves that problem but you have trimmed the bud. I have a stand I can use outside but couldn't get a good setup for tent

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I tried one of those hand held digital microscopes but I thought I wasn't seeing the whole picture.

Using my new microscope, all I need to do is snip off a small (1/2" or less) of bud and piece of a sugar leaf. Then you place that under the lens, and it's an entirely new perspective.

If you look around you can find them used for less than $100 used. Some of the best $$$ I've spent. No more guessing about trichromes being milky, clear or amber.

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Beard-o where did you buy it? Looks interesting.

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Hobbes said:

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Beard-o where did you buy it? Looks interesting.

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Ebay

I do soldering and got an ampscope arm and a 40 MP camera from china. Does a pretty nice job u can take pictures or video aswell uses the tv or pc . the arm is great the camera is ok but you can also get actual microscopes for the arm as well. I didnt